Aryna Sabalenka ended her 2020 season on a flawless nine-match win streak with titles in Ostrava and Linz. With just two WTA events after Roland Garros, the Belarusian monopolized most of the trophies up for grabs by also winning the Ostrava doubles title with Elise Mertens.
The only trophy she didn't take home was the doubles one in Linz, which went to Aranxta Rus and Tamara Zidansek (Sabalenka wasn't entered into doubles there).
In Sunday's Linz singles final, she took out Mertens, 7-5, 6-2 to win her eighth career title and clinch the year-end No. 10 ranking for the first time after two years at No. 11.
"It means a lot, first of all it means that I improved because the last two years I've been pretty consistent with my ranking and I want to improve this number," Sabalenka said going into the WTA International. "But I'm not here for the ranking, I'm here for the matches, to feel the emotions and to feel the game, this is more important for me than the ranking."